What Are You Doing New Year's Eve?
by H20loo
Summary: A requested sequel to "Christmas Wrapping". Jane and Maura have been together for two years, and Jane's Christmas present for Maura arrives late. Giving it to her on New Year's Eve seems to be the perfect solution.


What Are You Doing New Year's Eve

A/N: Well, Shadowglyder asked me to write a New Year's sequel. So, being in a holiday mood, I came up with this. I hope everyone likes it. :)

Jane paced around her apartment, staring in apprehension at the _very important_ package that she had for Maura. She knew it was a huge step, but Maura had been hinting around for a while, and they had been dating officially for almost two years now. Sure, they had met almost _three_ years ago, at the ski resort, but the year of their missed connections was a story in unto itself. They had finally reconnected two years ago at the supermarket of all places, and within a few months, Jane was exceedingly sure she had found the person she wanted to spend the rest of her life with. Nothing in the intervening months had changed her opinion in the slightest, so now two years later, she had bought something that she was hoping would show Maura she wanted to be around for a long time.

Except that the person she had ordered her gift from hadn't been able to guarantee its arrival by Christmas, and sure enough, it had arrived late. So instead of giving Maura the life-changing gift she had been planning for weeks, Jane had been forced to give Maura some weird air-freshener thing she had picked up from the drugstore on the way to Ma's house for Christmas. The gift had caused Maura to look puzzled, and a bit hurt, before Angela had dragged Jane away and chewed her out on Maura's behalf. After Jane explained, though, her Ma became all smiles, and Jane could only hope that Maura hadn't overheard anything she wasn't supposed to.

Jane was finally able to pick up her gift about three days after Christmas, and instead of making Maura suspicious by creating another event, Jane decided to be patient and wait until their movie night on New Year's Eve. It was a pretty fair approximation of their first official date anyway, so it would be the perfect romantic opportunity to give Maura her gift. If, of course, Jane could keep her damn dog Jo Friday away from the damn box. As if on cue, Jo picked that moment to come around the corner, and she immediately made a beeline to the box and started sniffing and whining.

"Down, Jo!" Jane commanded, completely ineffectually, as Jo started to paw at the box, almost ripping the paper. Jane was contemplated moving the box to higher ground, but then thought better of it. Instead, she brought it into the kitchen with her and placed it near where she was preparing dinner. Jo followed and lay down beside it. Jane rolled her eyes, but Jo did nothing further, so Jane started to put the finishing touches on the dinner she was making for Maura.

About ten minutes later, at exactly the time Maura was asked to arrive, Jane's doorbell rang. Elbow deep in salad, Italian pot roast and garlic bread, Jane immediately gave up on answering the door herself. "It's open!" she bellowed, balancing the food she held as she brought it all to the table.

The door opened, and Jo perked up, jumping to her feet. Jane smirked. Her dog loved Maura nearly as much as Jane did. Luckily, the feeling was mutual, so as soon as she had closed the door behind them, Maura knelt down and showered Jo with affection. When both dog and girlfriend were satisfied that each had been properly welcomed, Maura stood back up and came to Jane in the kitchen. "Well, I see where I stand in this relationship," Jane grumbled mock-petulantly.

"Oh, hush, you," Maura chided. "Jo came over to the door to greet me. _You_ did not."

"My hands were full with the dinner I've spent all afternoon cooking for you!" Jane protested.

"Even still," Maura said straight-faced, before she couldn't hold the expression any longer and her face broke out into a grin. Jane smiled back, and Maura reached up to kiss her. "Happy New Year's, Sweetie," Maura whispered into their kiss, and Jane abandoned whatever she had been doing to wrap Maura up completely.

"Happy New Year's, _Bella_ ," she answered affectionately, following up her words with an ardent kiss. Maura murmured her approval, and the kiss intensified. It likely would have continued for an indeterminate time longer, but the insistent scratching of paw on leg caused the two women to break apart. "What is it, Jo?" Jane demanded irritably, still holding on to Maura. Jo whined, turning around and walking over to the present that was still sitting in the kitchen. She sat down next to the box and began pawing at it and whining again.

Maura pulled away from Jane and looked at the box more closely. "Is that a Christmas present?" she asked curiously.

"Yes," Jane answered succinctly. When Maura looked at her, obviously wanting more information, Jane blushed and coughed. "Actually, it's _your_ Christmas present. It just wasn't ready for me to pick up until three days after Christmas," she confessed.

"Ah, so that's why I got a 'Tropical Hideaway Aire-Freshener' from you on Christmas," Maura surmised with a smirk. At Jane's embarrassed nod, Maura's grin grew wider. "And this was also why you and Angela were having that heated conversation in the kitchen that was suddenly smoothed over when you mentioned something about a 'real' gift," she further hypothesized.

"Yes, that would be why," Jane muttered.

"Well, you do know that you don't have to get me anything, and that I would have been fine with the air freshener?" Maura asked expectantly.

"Of course, because you are just that nice," Jane replied with an affectionate smile. "But, you are too nice and too beautiful and too generous and too brilliant for me to get you an air freshener for Christmas," she stated. "So, I got you something special that I really hope you like, because I've been working on it for a while."

"So I am allowed to open it now?" Maura asked excitedly.

"Please do, before Jo has a complete meltdown," Jane answered, noting that her dog was still agitated.

Maura squealed with childish delight, and Jane allowed herself a small, non-audible "aw". In spite of Isles' family wealth, Maura's childhood, and subsequently her Christmases, had been appallingly lonely and gift-free. As a result, Jane and her large and boisterously-loud Italian family did everything they could do to show Maura how much they loved her and how much she was a part of _their_ family. Maura always responded with sincere excitement and gratitude every time, and every time Jane fell in love with her that much more. Like now for instance, when Maura was ripping off wrapping paper with the gusto of a five-year old.

When she had gotten all of the paper off the box, Maura paused at an unexpected discovery. "Jane, why are there holes cut into this box?" she queried with a little trepidation.

"Because your present needs to breathe," Jane replied reasonably, and Maura stared at her, trying to judge whether her sometimes-prankster girlfriend was joking. Jane remained poker-faced, however, so Maura decided there was only one way to find out. She opened the box top and peeked inside, only to gasp. "Is that what I think it is?" she said, her voice choked with emotion.

"Well, if you think it's a turtle, then yes," Jane joked, happy that Maura seemed to be pleased.

"No, I don't think it's a turtle. I think it's a tortoise," Maura corrected. "I think it's an African spurred tortoise, the same kind I've been talking about getting for months." Tears welled up in her eyes as she lifted the reptile out of the box. "Hello there, beautiful," she said, looking the still-small creature from every angle. "It is male or female?" she asked Jane.

"Boy," Jane confirmed. "I didn't want any accidental little turtles."

"Tortoise," Maura corrected again. Jane rolled her eyes slightly, but Maura was too busy looking at her new reptile baby to notice.

"What are you going to name him?" Jane asked.

"Thomas," Maura said instantly, having decided long ago if she were to get a male turtle.

"Thomas?" Jane echoed.

"For Hugh Owen Thomas," Maura explained. "He was the father of orthopedic surgery in Britain and the entire profession."

"Of course you would give your turtle a nerd name," Jane teased.

"Tortoise," Maura corrected, suddenly sensing this was going to become a thing between her and Jane. "And you are one to talk. You named your dog after a detective on a police-based television show. That's not exactly the most profound of names, either."

"True," Jane allowed before she stepped up and put her arms around Maura's waist. "So you like him? Even though he's a responsibility that might outlive you?" Jane asked hesitantly. Giving Maura the added responsibility of a pet to her already-busy life had been Jane's biggest uncertainty regarding the new addition.

"I _love_ him," Maura answered instantly, alleviating Jane's fears. Maura carefully set Thomas down on the floor, and turned so she was facing Jane. "Just like I love you," she amended, giving Jane a heartfelt hug and kiss. Jane responded with vigor, and they probably would have stayed like that if Jane hadn't remembered dinner getting cold on the table. She pulled away from Maura with a small grumble. "I really hate to interrupt this," Jane said honestly, "but I put dinner on the table just before you got here. We should really eat it while it's warm."

"Oh!" Maura exclaimed. "Of course we should. Why didn't you tell me sooner?"

"Well, there were turt…" Jane began, before a rare death glare from Maura stopped her mid-sentence. "… _tortoise_ shenanigans to deal with, so I forgot for a minute. Then there was kissing, which made me forget even more," she finished cheekily.

Maura smiled at her. "Well, you remembered, and it smells wonderful, so I think we should eat." She glanced down at the floor to look for Thomas, and smiled affectionately when she saw Jo curled up next to him. "I can see now why Jo was so upset," she said. "She was worried about him being in that box."

"Yeah, I picked him up a few days ago, and first Jo was just fascinated, but after a while, they kind of became friends," Jane replied. "Or at least, Jo keeps bugging him, and Thomas doesn't seem to mind."

"That's sweet," Maura cooed, before her face took on the familiar "something just occurred to me" look.

Jane knew from experience that Maura putting her powerful brain to work could be super awesome or super scary, but she really was hungry, so she tried to divert. "So ready to eat?" she asked brightly, snapping Maura out of her thoughts.

"Yes, of course!" Maura chirped back, and they went to the table to eat. It was a very pleasant meal, and Maura complimented Jane on everything that she had cooked, but Jane could see that her girlfriend was still distracted by whatever it was she had been thinking about. Finally, as they decamped to the couch and snuggled up, Jane called her out on it.

"What are you thinking about, Maura?" she coaxed.

"Um, nothing," Maura lied, surprised and embarrassed that Jane had read her so easily.

"And that's an obvious lie," Jane countered with a smirk. "Out with it. It's been bothering you since you saw Jo and Thomas together, and I don't want you to break out in hives."

Maura blushed. She took a breath to calm herself, and then she started to describe the issue and the solution that she had been working on in her formidable brain. "Well, as I looked at Thomas and Jo, I realized that Thomas is going to grow rather big rather fast, and I don't think that my apartment would give him a suitable amount of room for him to roam after a while. So, that in turn led me to contemplate my living arrangements," she explained.

"Seems reasonable," Jane said agreeably. "You thinking about getting a new place because your family is growing both literally and figuratively."

"Yes, well, as I thought, I realized that, after seeing Jo with Thomas, I would probably upset Jo greatly if I took him away from her. But, your apartment is smaller than mine, so leaving him here would not fix the initial issue of the lack of space. As such, I came up with a solution that would resolve all of the issues as once," she continued.

"And?" Jane prompted, her detective instincts giving her an inkling of where this could be going and not quite knowing how to feel about it.

"And I was thinking that I could buy a proper house with a decent amount of land for Thomas, and that perhaps I could convince you and Jo to move in with me?" Maura finished anxiously, knowing that they had never really talked about moving in together.

Jane congratulated herself on her still-sharp detective skills before she paused to consider what Maura was offering. With her being a teacher and Maura being an already-wealthy doctor, there was a disparity in their incomes that would never be equaled, and Jane didn't want to be beholden to Maura for a lot of different reasons. But then again, Maura had never flaunted her wealth, and they always shared their couple expenses. There was also the BIG step of moving in with Maura. Jane treasured her independence. However, there was the flip side of those mornings when she had woken up grumpy because Maura hadn't been able to stay over and she had woken up alone. Plain and simple, despite her independent streak, Jane _missed_ Maura when she wasn't there. And finally, there was her damn dog. Her damn dog had fallen in love with that damn turtle - _tortoise_ -, and Maura was right: Jo would be upset if Maura took him away. Decision made, Jane sighed at the inevitability of it all, and spoke. "If we can help with the mortgage and other expenses, Jo and I would love to move in with you and Thomas," she said sincerely, and when Maura's face lit up, Jane's smile grew to its widest proportions.

"Really?" Maura asked, elated.

"Really," Jane confirmed. Maura kissed her then, and with a chuckle, Jane kissed back and welcomed the unexpectedly-different, yet unexpectedly-wonderful New Year.

The End


End file.
